“Eleanor, Mom just feels sorry for you.”
“To make this soup, I got up at four in the morning. Look, I even burned my hand.”
As she spoke, she held out her hand, the small red blister clearly visible.
Dad, hearing the noise from the living room, rushed in and blew up at me.
“Eleanor, your mom worked so hard for you, and this is how you treat her?”
“Hurry and apologize to her, then drink the soup!”
I looked helplessly at the sea cucumber floating in the bowl. “I’ve been allergic to seafood since I was a kid. I can’t eat this.”
But Mom didn’t budge.
“That’s only because when you were little, we were poor and you didn’t eat enough, so you developed that allergy. If you eat more now, you’ll be fine. Mom is only doing this for your good.”
Hearing this, Dad’s anger flared even more.
“Your mom got up so early to make this soup for you, and you’re still being picky? Drink it quickly, don’t be ungrateful!”
Seeing the stern displeasure in Dad’s eyes, I knew arguing further was useless.
“Mom, thank you. It’s my fault.”
Only then did Mom break into a smile through her tears.
“Ah, that’s my good daughter. Quickly drink the soup, it won’t taste good once it cools.”
I carried the soup into my room, and after closing the door, I quietly opened the window and poured it into a bowl on the windowsill, luring in a stray cat outside.
The stray must have been starving; before long, it had lapped up the soup completely.
A few days later, the project was successfully completed. Thanks to my outstanding performance, I smoothly obtained the recommendation letter from the company.
That afternoon, I hurriedly finished the online interview. The entire session went smoothly, and I felt confident in my performance, only waiting for the final good news.
When I stepped out of my room, I froze. Mom sat on the sofa in the living room, wearing reading glasses, her eyes fixed intently on the recommendation letter in her hands.
No wonder she hadn’t been bothering me as usual; she had found a new target.
“Mom, the recommendation letter has the company seal. Once it’s opened, it’s invalid!”
“If that happens, I may not be able to report to headquarters!”
Mom, however, looked completely unconcerned, even self-righteous.
“Eleanor, Mom is only doing this for your own good.”
“I was worried your company leader might say bad things in the letter, to make trouble for you.”
“How was I supposed to know I couldn’t open it? Can’t I just reseal it?”
I stomped my feet anxiously.
“Mom, this is regulated! You can’t just reseal it as you please!”
“Once this recommendation letter is opened, it loses all validity. All these years of hard work could be wasted!”
But Mom remained stubborn, unwilling to listen to a single word of my explanation.
As Mom spoke, she wiped her tears again, muttering, “Mom only wanted to help, to check things for you. How did it end up being my fault?”
The moment her sobs grew louder, Dad stormed out of the study.
“Eleanor, isn’t your mom doing this for you?”
“You can’t submit without a recommendation letter? Then this company isn’t worth it!”
“Rules, rules, sounds like they’re just giving you trouble on purpose!”
He walked over, grabbed the recommendation letter from my hands, and ripped it to pieces.
Still not satisfied, he went on scolding.
“If you were really capable, why would you even need a recommendation letter? The truth is, you’re just not good enough!”
“You’d better get married early instead of running after work, so we won’t have to worry about you all the time!”
I watched the scraps of paper flutter across the floor, yet my expression remained calm.
“Dad, I hope your ability is good enough. That was your promotion recommendation letter from your workplace.”
